The Etoile Cup
This is the first part published of the Etoile Cup. Its main characters are Jacy Nachtstern, daughter of Hades and Damian Morgenstern, son of Poseidon. 0.The Etoile Cup Hades and Poseidon were fighting for a long time. There fights often caused wars between their children and sometimes, even the Gods would pick sides. One day, Zeus got fed up with all these fighting, he and the other Gods made a Cup for Poseidon and Hades, that would make them equal. Both Gods accepted it and were grateful about it, every decade, the Cup would be supposed to change places. From Underworld to Ocean and from Ocean to Underworld. Hades and Poseidon made another oath to each other. The Cup would choose one child, one of their children and give it a special gift, making the two children powerful. Century’s past and the children weren’t chosen yet. It was time to return the Cup to Hades again. Two demigods, children of Poseidon and Hades, wanted to bring the Cup to Hades. Both of them were foolish. The daughter of Poseidon wanted to see Tartarus so badly and the son of Hades agreed. Together they went into Tartarus and got sucked in there. The Cup with had disappeared with them into Tartarus. Every decade, two demigods of Hades and Poseidon get sent to get the Cup out of Tartarus, but none of them have yet managed. Now Jacy Nachtstern and Damian Morgenstern are sent to retrieve the Cup out of Tartarus. Will they manage? 1.Jacy My dream started wicked and weird. The wide ocean stretched out before me exactly the way Long Island Beach did. Suddenly, a shooting star shot across the sky, leaving a trail of sparks. It kept gliding over the earth, when it suddenly descended to the ocean. But, it wasn’t the ocean anymore, it was a dark, steamy and stinking pit, that seemed to have no end and I stood at the very edge of it. The shooting star fell right into the pit and stopped sparking. It seemed like a pity to me and I wanted to climb down the walls of the pit to get the star back. The pit seemed to suck me in, my legs were pulled there against my will and I could barely stop it. I turned my head back to where I thought where the camp was but I only saw the fields of Asphodel and the fields of Punishment. That was when I realized, I was in the Underworld. The first real part of Greek world I’d ever seen. I’d stumbled across the entrance, by accident, when I was waveboarding. It sounds weird, but it’s true. Hades recognized me immeadiatly and sent my half-brother Leandro to bring me to camp. My Dad and I were in great terms, in comparison to the other demi-gods. I swallowed a hard lump, when I realized, right in front of me was Tartarus. My brain was trying to force my feet to walk away from Tartarus, but my brain so failed. Suddenly a voice spoke in my head. I knew it just to well. It was Hades’. “Jacy, listen carefully. In the old days, I used to fight a lot with Poseidon. Often wars would be born, because of our fights. The other gods created a Cup,that would make Poseidon and me equal in power and everything. The Etoile Cup would choose one child of Poseidon and one child of me, that would be more powerful. Our two children’s age would have at most a difference of 5 years. Every decade, the cup is supposed to go from me to Poseidon or from Poseidon to me. One year, two demigods, our children, were bringing the Cup back to me. They were foolish, they wanted to see Tartarus and Tartarus is attracted to powerful stuff. The two of them died there and the Cup is in Tartarus, making it powerful. Every decade we sent two of our children, Poseidon and I, to get the Cup from Tartarus. All have failed. Now we chose you Jacy Nachtstern, you are chosen from the Cup, gifted, and we choose you to get the Cup back. Take Damian Morgenstern with you. He too, is gifted. Good Luck, my daughter!” '' “Jacy! Jacy! Wake up, it’s only a dream!” I heard Leandro calling me. Groggily and shaking I woke up. The Hades Cabin was barely lit and one light was flickering. Staring down at me, Leandro wiped my hair from my face. He was only my half-brother, but he seemed like my real brother. “Are you okay, little sis?” he asked quietly. I nodded numbly. His black hair was very short and his eyes shone dark like Hades’. Leandro looked like a real Latino, a real handsome Latino. But we had the same face, the arrogant and sure look. We both inherited from Dad. “Do you want to talk about it?” Leandro’s voice, was soft and with brotherly care. “No, I think it’s ok. But, I think I need to take a walk.” Leandro’s eyes narrowed. He knew perfectly well, I was shocked, but he accepted it. “Take a dagger, you might meet some nasty creatures.” Was all he said. I quickly threw on some jeans, a bra, a t-shirt and a strap for my dagger. It was golden, Celestial Bronze, with a hilt made of silver. My eyes quickly adapted to the darkness, being a child of Hades, you were used to darkness very well. The chill, made me shiver a few times, but it was okay. I remembered Dad’s words just too well. ''Take Damian Morgenstern with you. He too, is gifted. And I hated Damian Morgenstern. He was so hot and thought he was so great. Well, he was kind of good in fighting, but we were kind of enemies. The first days I was nice to him, but he just returned his arrogant sneer as an answer. I decided to talk to him now at night. Tomorrow, everyone’d be gossiping and that wouldn’t be gr eat. It took a lot of bravery, to knock on the Poseidon Cabin door, but I remembered Dad’s words. The door opened. A black haired girl stood at the entrance and stared at me with angry, blinking eyes. “What the hell do you want to do here now at three A.M. Hades child?” I swallowed. “I need to talk to Damian. Damian Morgenstern.” She frowned. “Now? Whatever. You Are A Hades Child!” She said that in a so disgusted tone, that I felt like puking. She turned her head back into the cabin and called:”Damian, Jacy Nachtstern needs to talk to you!” 2.Damian What is worse? To get called by your big sister, that there is a girl at the door waiting for you or having a bad dream. Well, I had both. First, the dream was about me at Tartarus and then Larissa called me, telling me Jacy Nachtstern was waiting for me at the door. I was caught in surprise. Jacy Nachtstern? She hated me. But I didn’t hate her. She was cute with her long-wavy silver-blond hair and green-gray-blue eyes that made my heart melt everytime I saw them. I put on my dark green t-shirt, that showed my muscular upper body and some swimming shorts. Larissa was pulling me to the door, when I was done and truly, there was Jacy. Her eyes were filled with impatience and when she saw me she just said to four words:”Follow me. Don’t ask!” I followed her and I still saw Larissa raising her eyebrows. Jacy led me to the ocean and sat down in the sand. “What is it? Did you really have to wake me up in the middle of the night? ” I asked in a annoyed tone. She completely ignored it. “Did you get a dream from Poseidon or my Dad?” I got startled by that question. Why was she asking that? I shaked my head and demanded an answer. “This night, I dreamed I was at the edge of Tartarus and I saw a shooting star falling in to it. It was the Etoile Cup…” I paled, when she mentioned the Cup. ” The Cup, you know what that is, right?” I asked her, hoping I would be able to bore her with my look. But I didn’t. “Hades explained it in the dream. He said we, both of us were to search it and go to Tartarus.” I knew it, was all I thought, of course it was Jacy, Hades’d choose. She was talented and good. “So, if I get it right, you had a dream in which Hades told you to find the Etoile Cup and you should t ake me.” Jacy nodded as an answer and said:” I think we shouldn’t tell everyone. The Cup is forgotten by now and if we tell everyone, some bad guys might try to steal the Cup from us is we get it.” “Well, you’re not going!” I snapped, hoping she would agree. But she just said:”I am, like it or not.” “You’ll mess everything up!” I yelled. By Poseidon, why did she have to risk her life? “Hades chose me and I bet Poseidon did you too! So suck it Mr. Morgenstern!” “Even a God can be wrong and Hades is often wrong. And here he is. You are so NOT experienced, we’ll fail because of you!” Suddenly something sliced of the extra pocket of my shorts.“What the Underworld!” I cussed. My pocket was lying in the sand and Jacy was smiling at me in this evil smile, that corrupted her angelic features.”Did you do that?” I asked astonished. She nodded. “So am I still so bad? I have a good aim, in archery and with dagger so I’ll go Morgenstern!” She froze, like she realized something. “Is your last name really Morgenstern?” I frowned. “Why shouldn’t it be?” “We have something in common then.” “What, that we hate each other so much?” “Shut up Damian. Your last name is MorgenSTERN and mine is NachtSTERN.” “You mean the ending. Well, pronounciation is different, so I never thought about it!” “Idiot! You know what STERN means?” “Course, it means stern like she is stern.” Jacy seemed to be exploding, because I was so stupid. “STERN means star in German!” “So we got the same ending, so what? I am Austrian descendant.” “Do you even know what Etoile means?” I shaked my head, I thought it was some ancient greek thing, but I never thought about the meaning . It was just a name, like Damian, with some meaning no one cared about. “Etoile is French. French is by the way the third language I learned before Ancient Greek. Anyway, Etoile means star too!” “So you think we are the gifted children of the two?” I asked in a hushed voice. Jacy nodded. “But, you don’t have a proof.” Jacy rolled her eyes as an answer and said:”We leave tomorrow, night. We pack today and I got a gift for you.” She pulled a watch, identical like hers out of her pocket. I accepted it gratefully, but it seemed so useless. “We can communicate through the watch. You have to think TO me and I will get the thought, so we’ll be able to talk in mind. Tomorrow, three A.M., here. Get weapons and stuff!” Jacy said, looking into my eyes. We didn’t talk to each other for a while, just stared into eachother’s eyes. “Thanks” I said and stood up to walk back to my cabin, knowing we shouldn’t tell anyone about the plan, not even our siblings. 3.Jacy The next morning I woke up tired and I first forgot why. Then I remembered my dream and the quest and … Damian. Leandro had been sleeping when I went back to the cabin and I’d packed the most important stuff, so he wouldn’t ask weird questions today. ”Jacy, are you ready? Breakfast, remember?” Leandro called, his voice was slightly worried and I brushed my blond hair from my face. “Can you tell Chiron, I’m coming later? I need to shower and I won’t manage in 15 minutes!” Leandro laughed at my shower comment and nodded. A second later, he was out. Quickly, I packed more clothes in my backpack and stepped under my shower, knowing it would be one of my last before the quest, or maybe even one of my last, forever. Most likely, I’d die on that impossible quest. Damian, I thought using the watch to send the message over to him with my mind. F*cking Gods, this is really happening? His Answer came quick and I laughed out loud, which he couldn’t hear. We need to plan more about our quest and let’s meet in the lunch brake in the forest. I only got an OK. as an answer, but I was enough. I stepped into the shower and enjoyed the hot water on my back, making my muscles relax a bit. By the Gods, I so enjoyed the shampoo, that made me smell, non-demigod and like a healthy and normal teenager. I towel-dried my hair and went in jean-shorts and a thin t-shirt and a strap for my dagger to breakfast. Chiron stared at me and I could see in his look, that he was kinda saying”Wake-up-earlier”, but Leandro must’ve told him I’d had a horrible dream. I sled next to Leandro at the bench at the Hades table. My eyes went to Damian, who was staring, he raised his eyebrows but said nothing. “Jacy, are you looking at Damian Morgenstern?” Leandro said, his voice was astonished, he so knew I hated Damian. “What! No, I just swept my eyes past the tables!” I lied quickly. “Really?! then why did Larissa Morgenstern tell me, that you wanted to talk to Damian last night and he came back 1 hour later, maybe even more.” I blushed, this was the worst talk you could have for breakfast. “Well, I had to talk to him. It was urgent!” I said in hectic. “Jacy, are you two dating?” he asked softly. I blushed even harder. “No, Leandro, nothing like that, but could you leave it my business, without spreading it through the whole camp. It’s important and the camp shouldn’t know ok?” I said honest, almost stern. Leandro’s eyes widened. “You said Tartarus in the dream and Father and Cup in the dream.” He said, his voice was barely a whisper. Damian, Leandro guessed what it is. I will tell him, but he’ll shut up, I sent the message quietly to Damian. “Jacy, have you been assigned to find the Etoile Cup?” he said. I nodded. “Oh Hades, why her not me?“ he said sadly, then suddenly he yelled. “NO, Jacy, NOO!” The whole camp was quiet and I got Damian’s answer. Oh no. He found out. Go out with him and tell Chiron it was some silly fight! “Now, I wanted a quiet breakfast. Hades kids, please go out for a few minutes!” Mr. D. said in a bored and Chiron followed us. I practically pulled Leandro out. He seemed paralyzed. At the beach, the three of us stopped and Leandro sat down in the sand. “Jacy, is it what I think?” Chiron started. Damian, I think Chiron is finding out and hit Larissa for me. Because of her Leandro knows and Chiron’ll too. ''I sent the message quickly, hoping he’d really hit Larissa. “What are you thinking, sir?” I asked hastily. “Leandro screamed “NO, Jacy, NOO”, so I guess you are assigned the task of searching the Etoile Cup right?” “Yes, I guess so and we’re leaving tonight. I hope you’ll keep this information for yourself.” I’d added a hint of power in my voice, hoping Chiron’d keep this for himself. “Of course, I hope you’ll succeed with a Poseidon son and Good Luck!” he trotted away and I was rather surprised. Chiron was weird. “Leandro? Are you okay?” I asked him softly. He stared at me with red eyes and whispered: “How can I be? My sister is sent to death and I love her the most on the whole world.” I felt sadness wash over me and I patted his back, unsure about what I was supposed to do. “You’re just fourteen. How can Hades be so cruel?” “Leandro, listen. It doesn’t help anyone, if you are sulking. Rather help her preparing herself!” Astonished Leandro and I looked up and Damian was staring at us. His olive-green eyes were gleaming. “So you’re her helper, the Poseidon one!” Leandro said stiffly. A muscle twitched in Damian’s face. “Yes, I am and you better help her or do you want her to be unprepared?” I was shocked. How could Damian talk to Leandro like this? “Damian, let him be. What’d you do if you find out Shaunee has to go to Tartarus?” Shaunee was Damian’s other real sister. His small one. “Well, she isn’t. So I don’t waste a thought about that!” he snapped at me. And Leandro said weakly: “Jacy, he’s right. I should help. You go to training. I’ll pack for you. And go eat, I need some time for myself!” Damian pulled me away from Leandro and brought me back to the pavilion. I was still able to hear Leadro’s cries. 4.Damian It was horrible watching Leandro crying, because his sister was sent to death. I never ever had that sisterly feelings to Shaunee, it was always Larissa, who had them. Jacy ate her breakfast quiet and I let her sit alone and I thought, everyone could see her shock on her angel face. My packing was quick. I didn’t need female equipement, so I just brought shorts, weapons, ambrosia and nectar and cash. Of course. Larissa didn’t know what was happening with me and why I’d followed Jacy and Leandro. The whole camp must’ve thought I was crazy after Jacy. I still wasn’t used to use the telepathic talk, but I had no other choice. ''Jacy, you ok? ''It was a simple question, but I knew I could hurt her feelings. She might think I had no idea how she was feeling. “Damian? Earth to Damian!” Larissa stood at the doorway of the cabin and I suck a deep breath.”Larissa, one wish. Leave me alone. No, I don’t love Jacy Nachtstern okay?” Lassy’s eyes narrowed and I was able to see, that her mascara was smeared. “No, never. I wouldn’t ask this question about your love life, but there is something you are keeping a secret and I don’t like that.” “Lassy, listen, you … you don’t need to worry. Just don’t expect me to return okay? And don’t tell anyone, yeah?” My voice was soft, but I don’t think it helped her. “Not expect you to return? You think Shaunee or I would be able to survive the shock if you die? After Oscar? He died in the monster attack and how should we survive it?” she screeched. ''Jacy, I am telling Larissa, yeah? Her answer was swift. What ever, I don’t care. “Lassy, you know what the Etoile Cup is, right?” Lassy rolled her eyes at that question.”Of course, but … wait. Damian, are supposed to find it?” Her voice was careful controlled and full of panic. “Yep, that’s right. With Jacy, but don’t tell anyone. Got it? I am leaving tonight.” I said it harsh, so she’d get it. Tears sparkled in her eyes and she hugged me hard. “Go to training. I’ll do the packing!” she whispered and gave me a kiss on my cheek. Lassy dealed with it much easier that Leandro. I was just about to go out of the cabin, when she said:”Come together with Jacy at least, while the travel. I know you love her and you’ll be a perfect couple!” I blushed and went to the sword arena quickly. The whole day, I practiced hard, ate a lot and didn’t see Leandro or Lassy. At night, Shaunee sat next to me and hugged me. She was just 10. “Are you all right?” I asked her, brushing her brown hair from her face. “Will you come back?” she asked her big brown eyes alert and I said:”Maybe, but if I don’t. Be a brave demigod, ya?” Shaunee nodded and went to sit next to Lassy. I didn’t see Leandro at the Hades table, only Jacy and she looked up, when I looked at her. Leandro is heart-broken. But he packed my stuff. 3 A.M. at the same place like yesterday? She sent the message and a small hint of a smile was on her lips, when I looked up to her. Yeah, sure. Did you take weapons? I mean, which? I ate a lot, and waited for her to answer. It took a while. Two daggers, my special ones. One sword, a bow and 20 arrows. I took a bit nectar and ambrosia. Did you? Of course and cash. But also some food, that will last a while. Eat a bit more! She didn’t answer after that. I went to the cabin, as if it were a normal day and saw a backpack on my bed. I went to sleep and made my from Jacy given watch give me an alarm for 2:45 A.M. I went to shower, my last time before I went. Gave Shaunee a kiss and held Lassy’s hand for a while, before I went to bed and fell into a dreamless sleep. 5.Jacy I felt like crap. Leandro didn’t come to dinner, Damian was trying to be nice, even flirty and I was going to be send to Tartarus to fulfill the mission IMPOSSIBLE. When I’d come back from dinner, Leandro was sitting on his bed, staring at his pictures from me. “Jacy, I love you. Remember that okay?” Leandro said with tears in his eyes, his voice sounded like it’d crack any moment. “Yes, I do. I love you, too.” I gave him a hug and Leandro returned it. My eyes were tired and I immeadiatly fell asleep. My watch vibrated at my hand and I woke up with a jolt. It was 2:30 A.M. Leandro was aleady sleeping, even though he was moving in his sleep. I dressed quickly in my gear, that looked like normal clothes, jeans, t-shirt, sweater and jacket. My dagger was strapped to my jeans and my bow was hung over my shoulder with the arrows. The sword was on my back too, with my backpack. I tiptoed out of the cabin to the beach and Damian was already there. My heart skipped a beat. Stupid, I thought, you don’t love Damian Morgenstern. Damian didn’t raise his head when I came. He just sat under the moon, staring at the wide ocean that was dark with waves. ”Ready?” he said, without staring at me. “Yes, I guess so. Come, let’s go through the forest.” I walked toward it and he followed me. I didn’t feel like talking so I decided to talk to him through my mind. I can melt into the ground and go to some places, sometimes even directly to the Underworld. Well, actually, it’s the easiest to go to the Underworld like that. I informed him. He wasn’t very talkative now and I could understand why. Well, I don’t want to go to the Underworld directly. Plus, we need to get more food or buy more. Except you can go to your Daddy’s palace and ask for food, little one. He answered flirty. Gods, he didn’t want to talk, but flirt with me or drag me to bed! If you know where to go, not New York. They will search us, by the way. ''I said rather unfriendly. ''Can you take people with you? When you Shadowtravel? Yes, I can. Where do you want to go? ''We were just walking past the Zeus statue in the forest and I stopped, staring at the God and prayed a few words. ''Maine, I am from there. And \ know perfectly well, where to get what. ''He said and I nodded giving him the following instructions. ''Imagine Maine okay? The smell, the way it looks like. Sort of everything and then hold my hand. Send the picture of Maine in my head. I got a stream of Maine in my head. The cold winter, the salty air and trees. Damian grasped my hand and I visually imagined Maine, stronger and stronger and suddenly, it felt like I was sucked down into the earth. My senses started to work again, when I arrived in Maine. I let go of Damians hand and stared around. It was still dark and Damian was standing and gasping. Oh Gods, We are really there. Now it is early in the morning and we can not go to the supermarket now. Maybe my Mom will let us stay at her place for the rest of the night. I nodded and followed him down the street. Suddenly, he stopped. Was his Mom’s house already there? “Jacy?” he said softly. My heart fluttered. Gods, I didn’t want to fall in love with him. He’d poach my heart. I stared back at Damian, a street lamp flickered, making his hair shine. “You did a good job, did you know that?” the way he talked, made my pulse beat faster. He stepped closer and I’d be able to touch him. “Thanks, for being nice to me, Damian.” I said quietly. He laughed. “Always!” he murmured and bent down to me. 6.Damian Her lips were soft and she was a brilliant kisser. I pulled away and I saw, that she was breathless. ”Gods, can we pretend, that this never happened?” she said. “Sure, if you wish.” I answered, my voice was tingled with sadness. But I wasn’t with her here to kiss her. “Come on, let’s go to my Mom’s. Don’t tell her anything if she asks why we are here. If she finds out we’re going to the Underworld, she’ll freak!” I kept walking down the street to Peaks-Kenny State Park then to a little street next to the park to my Mom’s. Jacy followed me without saying anything, just staring around. I stopped in front of my Mom’s house, turned to Jacy and said in a rough voice:”We tell her, that we’re friends and that you’d like to go to Maine, because you’d never been there, got it?” I didn’t even wait for her to answer, I just rang the doorbell and a few minutes later, my Mom appeared. She had my olive-green eyes and light brown hair. She stared in surprise and blinked her eyes a few times. “Damian, is that you?” Her voice was shocked and her eyes swept to Jacy and I couldn’t blame her when her eyes widened. “Mom, listen. This is Jacy, my friend and I came here, because Jacy’d never seen Maine, but we’re not allowed to leave camp. But I wanted to see you and Jacy Maine. Will you allow us to stay over night here?” I had toned my voice soft and Mom looked at Jacy and Jacy smiled a little smile. She looked like an angel and my Mom must’ve realized it. “Of course Damian, bring her in a room.”We went up into my room and Jacy said a thanks, which made Mom smile. For a few seconds, I was able to see the young little woman, Poseidon fell in love with. My room was the way I’d left it and I liked it. A bit messy and it still had the wooden smell. Jacy coughed and I looked up. “Sorry, I forgot, that you’re a girl. You can sleep in Shaunee’s room or here in mine. We’ll have to wake up before my Mom. She should think it’s only a dream, that I was here!” Well, then I’ll sleep here. Be a gentleman and let me take the bed. The Shadowtravel cost energy. She spoke to me through her mind and I let her take the bed. Jacy fell asleep immeadiatly and I lay on the floor with a pair of blankets. I set an alarm again for 6:30 A.M. My dreams weren’t pleasant this time. I dreamed about Jacy becoming a hunter and when I went to ask her to become a normal demigod again, she laughed at me. Her hunter friends were in a circle around me and she asked how to kill me. A girl shot an arrow in my leg, which hurt a lot and I cried out in pain. “Loser!” they all called me and then Artemis came. In her hands, there was a hunting knife. “Oh I love little boys, that run after my hunters. But they have no right!” Her knife flashed into my heart. I woke up. “Poseidon!” I exclaimed, when I woke up, my face was full of sweat. I shook my head, trying to get rid of this dream. It was one of the worst. My eyes swept to my watch. 6:23 A.M. Time to wake Jacy up. We had to leave before 6:45, my Mom’d wake up at that time and she wasn’t supposed to think I really came. “Jacy?”I whispered, shaking her a bit. She turned around and opened her eyes. The green-gray-blue eyes stared at me. “Damian? This is a nice dream! Come down.” She seemed a bit hazy and crazy. Jacy pulled my head down and again our lips met and it felt like electricity was hissing through me, but it fell wonderful. I pulled away. “Jacy, wake up. Please, we got to leave now!” This time her eyelids fluttered and her look was clear. “Did I just kiss you?” Her cheeks were flushed red. “I guess, but I kissed you yesterday, so we’re quit.” She laughed quietly at my reply. “So, we’ve got to leave?” I nodded as an answer and she put on her clothes. We stepped through the front door, when Jacy asked:”Why didn’t you say bye to your Mom?” "I am not supposed to meet her. Neither Lassy and Shaunee. We got to pretend she had a hallucination." Jacy's eyes narrowed. "Why are you being so mean to your Mom? I wish my Mom'd love me like yours loves you!" She stalked away, as if she were angry, that I was being mean to my Mom. "Poseidon ordered it. She is going crazy, not seeing him and yeah, that's why she's not allowed to see us!" "Who cares? Children don't always remind you of their parent. Maybe, she doesn't see Poseidon in you!" "Oh, how do YOU know?" I snapped. "I thought, your Mom hated you and knew something was wrong with YOU!" Jacy's eyes seemed to spark out of anger. But, I continued out of gigantic rage. "What do YOU know about a mother's love, if you don't even know how it is to be loved? By your MOM?" Her eyes sparkled and a tear leaped out of an eye. She looked at me one more second, before dissappearing into the ground. And I knew. I knew, I had hit her weak, most saddest spot and now, she was mad. So mad, she disappeared from Maine and from me. And I broke the promise, that I'd always be nice to her. And, and ... I loved her. 7.Jacy The darkness swallowed me and I had no idea, where I landed. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying on the beach of L.A. It was my favorite beach and I hadn’t been there, since I was eleven. Since, I landed in the Underworld and had discovered my real identity. The beach was pretty empty, which wasn't a big surprise, when it was barely 7. Jacy, please, don'tss feel offended. Come back to Maine. '' Damian's voice rang in my head. My forehead cringed and I just kept walking toward the water. Imagining how nice my life was before camp and even in camp. Now, I was on my mission to kill myself. Great! I had no idea where to go. Directly to the Underworld or first to my Dad? Ok, he was in the Underworld too, but I could go to his palace. Most likely, he'd be scolding me for leaving Damian alone. That bastard was so arrogant and broke my heart, by saying stuff like I didn't know what a mother's love was. What kind of Dad was Poseidon? I mean, Hades took care of me with love and he didn't tell me not to see my Mom because it wasn't good for her. The sun was rising from east and I let it shine on my face. I could go to my Mom and my step-father and siblings. I had three half-siblings with Leandro of course. But if I counted all the children of Hades, I would have more than the whole family of my Mom. If I would go to my Mom's my life would really suck. She would scream and everything. Ella and Jasper would ask me if I would stay. Richard would tell me to leave the family alone, because I was the curse of the family. The unwanted one. I chose to go to the underworld. ''Jacy, please, just come back. I have to tell you something. I bit back a sarcastic comment and thought Well, then say it by Thought messaging. I am going to the Underworld, so don't use this damn watch. Damian didn't stay silent at all. Yeah? Throw it away then. Just come back. We just have to fullfill the task and you will never have to talk to me again. My mind itched to kick him. How stupid was he? First, he want to kiss me whatever and then he insults me! I ran down the beach to the big villa of my mother and her husband. It was white and a little gate surrounded it. The crack of dawn made the building look yellow. I took a deep breath, actually I really missed my Mom. I hadn't seen her in years, my fingers pressed the doorbell and a woman appeared. Her hair was brown and her eyes a green-gray-blue. An exact replica of mine. The womans eyes widened when she saw me. My silky silver-blond hair was a mess and my mother shrieked a little. Okay, a little wasn't true. She shrieked quite a lot. Her dark curls were bouncing around her and I stepped closer to her. My Mom backed up, but I touched her arm. I don't know how to describe the feeling, when you touch your mother again after more than 5 years. It was like I was a child again. Wanting my mother hugging me. My mother just screamed a name:"Richard!" "Mom, just please. Accept me. Don't get Richard!" I say hastily. "Jocelyn, I tell you one thing. You are bad for us, you are a shame. You know, I am lucky that Richard married me even when I had you.", she snapped, even though big tears were shimmering in her eyes. "Mom, what did I do wrong?", I swallowed and looked into her-my eyes. "Jocelyn, your Dad was bad and his genes are in you, so you are bad!" Her words seemed to slice me up. Like little peaces of meat. How could she? She was my MOM! Then Richard came, he had a white beard, was bald and a few pounds on his ribs. He stared at me and his eyes narrowed. "Jocelyn Nachtstern, what a pleasure to see you again after three years. But, you have no right to be on my property and pestering my wife and me. So I demand you to leave, NOW!", he howled with his scratchy voice. I looked at my Mom again, ignoring Richard. "Mama, ich bin deine Tochter. Bitte, gib unserer Beziehung noch eine Chance und lass mich meine Geschwister nochmal sehen..." She just shook her head and I felt a tear rising in my eye. I closed my eyes and Shadowtraveled one more time, down to my Dad's palace. 8.Damian My brain was completely frantic, thinking of all the possibilities of where Jacy could have gone too. The best option would be going to the Underworld and to her Dad's palace, but how could I get there quickly? The best thing would be, going back to Camp and asking Leandro to bring me to Hades, but Leandro would be completely furious at me for leaving Jacy. I sighed and walked about a mile to ocean. The water seemed cold, gray and stormy. Maybe Dad was in a bad mood. When my legs stepped into the water, they stayed dry, but something felt completely different. The water felt poisonous. Like someone put dangerous substance in the water. "Dad?", I thought. There was no answer and I sighed again, that was just a typical reaction. Why would the God of the Sea care about my thoughts. "I do, Damian, because I am your son, but you must go down to my palace!", a voice hushed over my ear and disappeared again, just like the wind. I swam out to the Ocean and willed to go down to Dad's palace. The water swirled around me and pressure pushed me down. When I blinked again, I saw the big and beautiful palace of my Dad. But it looked dirty, like molded and then my Dad came out. He looked like he was sick, filled with cancer and when he looked at me, he threw up. "Dad?", I asked. Category:Surf Legends